esl ::: emily's so luscious

Practicum, Day Five

If any learning occurred tonight, I fear it was accidental.
SCC has provided a few laptops for our class, and Genia has been working with the students in shifts - beginners on computer while she works from the book with intermediates, and vice versa. The program we have is the Side-by-Side Interactive series. I miss my computer lab in Cashiers with Rosetta Stone and Internet access on every machine. I worked one-on-one with three of the five students, two on computer and one on book. I think computer skills are something we'll need to work on, if that's something they want to learn. If they will never need to use a computer, why should I waste learning time on teaching them to use the touchpad on a laptop? The program itself is not stellar enough to warrant learning computer skills just to access the few activities it provides. The listening portion is pitiful. I shall have to look into the program more closely. I may write a review and submit it to Kay so she knows what kind of materials she's giving us. I don't think much was accomplished tonight. Genia was more scattered than usual, but seemed intent on teaching me everything she knows.
See, what happened was:
Kay called me last week and asked me if I had Mondays free, and I was asleep so I said no. WTF was I thinking? I knew she was checking to see if I could take over the class (for pay) when Genia leaves, but I was too sleepy to connect that to what I was saying. Fortunately, Kay isn't in a huge hurry, and hadn't ruled me out. It helps that I'm already on the payroll at SCC, b/c of the class I taught in Cashiers for a while. I called her the next day after the sleepy-call, and left her a message that I could rearrange my schedule - I managed to make it sound like I'd been checking with several people to accomodate the Monday schedule, but really I only asked Aaron if we could meet another day to study for comps. Funny the things you can do with language without lying.
Anyway the point is, Kay called me again this morning, and though she did wake me, I was lucid enough to wake up fast and get myself a job (jeeeeoooooorb!). Genia's contract will expire March 2, so I'll be contracted starting March 6, for two nights a week, and I'll be getting paid to do what I'm already doing. w00t!!! In addition to the money (how I love the shiny shinies!), I'll be the one making decisions about class content and format! This is going to be great for the practicum.

I think it might be a positive thing that I've had to work with Genia, b/c it has definitely showed me what I shouldn't do in teaching, and it has been a lesson in diplomacy. I think I've learned my lesson nicely and now I'm ready to get the shiny shinies!

Those of you reading this, I need some help with something:
Pedro is a dude SCC hired b/c he has a connection with the place where our class meets, and is a fluent Spanish speaker (when will they understand that "able to speak spanish" not equal to "able to teach english"?). Pedro works with Genia's class on Monday nights, and he will be staying after she leaves, to assist me. I don't want to offend him, but I don't want my students speaking Spanish in class, not even with each other. I need to know how to keep him occupied in some capacity other than translator, so he isn't just taking up space and getting in the way. I know that sounds harsh, but I hope you know what I mean. He'll be in my class on Feb 23, which is when Chandrika and Aaron are coming to observe me. I would like to involve him in my lesson somehow, so that he has a function. For that matter, I'd like to also involve Chandrika and Aaron. This is where you come in. Any ideas on how to do that? I'm brainstorming on my own, of course, but six brains are better than one.
Go forth and Comment, please.

:)

posted by E.M @ 9:43 PM